


Oblivious

by NightsDragon



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: 5 Things, 5 Times, 5+1 Things, Family Feels, Father-Son Relationship, Fluff, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-12
Updated: 2018-05-12
Packaged: 2019-05-05 20:19:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14626305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NightsDragon/pseuds/NightsDragon
Summary: (Tony and Peter are oblivious. Everyone can see it, but them.)5 times people can see the definition of father and son in Tony and Peter.And the 1 time Tony and Peter finally realise it and confess it to each other.





	1. Ned

**Author's Note:**

> ("He's like my hero. Well, he's sorta more than that.")

**1\. Ned ("He's like my hero. Well, he's sorta more than that.")**

Ned sees it every time Peter talks about him.

He never thought he would see Peter any more excited then he normally always was. They were best friends since sixth grade. While other kids were having their parents buy them toy cars, they were buying miniature sets and building it themselves. In eighth grade, kids were already talking about parties and driver's licenses, and he and Peter were planning for another Star Wars movie marathon and a new matching Lego set.

He was there for most of Peter's ups and downs. He was there when Peter blamed himself for Ben. He was there when he found out about Spiderman. For _goodness sakes_ \- he was _the_ guy in the chair!

It was never surprise to him when Peter's internship cover story went from fake to real overnight. Let alone being intern to the head man himself. Ned was slightly envious, but he couldn't imagine anyone who deserved it more than Peter, no matter how many times Flash decided to butt in. And that statement only grew stronger with every passing weekend.

Every weekend, Peter would head over in the tower from ten in morning to three in the afternoon. In that time, he and Mr. Stark would work on various projects, even going as far playing ping pong and watching a movie. All Ned needed to do was get his things from his locker in the mornings, and Peter would come _bouncing_ down the hallway - getting, but ignoring strange looks - to him.

All that was required of Ned was to say, "How was the internship?," and everything followed suit. Peter's voice was filled with awe and a happiness that Ned missed when they were talking about legos. But, one day sealed the deal. Ned had the scene imprinted in his mind, because knowing his best friend, when Peter finally figured out that he saw Tony as more than a mentor, he was definitely going to disagree with the thought. But Ned knew the truth.

They were by his locker once again, and Ned was nodding along - genuinely interested - to Peter's story. When Peter stopped to take a breath, Ned managed to get out, "Looks like you really like him." Ned shut his locker door, and fixed his backpack straps. Peter just continued to smile obliviously. "Yeah, of course. I've always admired him! There was this one time I begged May and Ben to take to one of his Stark Expos. Have I ever told you the story?" Ned shook his head with a chuckle. "Plenty of times."

Peter rolled his eyes, and they began to walk to their 1st period. Unfortunately they had different Spanish classes, but they took the same hall to get there. "Never mind. The point is, he's like my hero. Well, he's sorta more than that." Ned physically stopped, forcing Peter to stumble to stop behind him. Ned turned around and stared at him, thinking that he heard wrong. "What do you mean?" Peter shrugged nonchalantly. "He's sorta more than my mentor. He's - oh, I don't know. But he's something. Sometimes it feels like he's my-".

Ned doesn't curse that often, but he couldn't help it. The bell rung, and the sudden influx of students in the halls blocked off the end of Peter's sentence. Peter had quickly left with a, "See you later." The next period, which happening to be engineering for both of them, Ned asked Peter again. "Hey, what were you saying earlier? I missed it." Peter continued to search through a little container for some specific screw, and answered without looking up. "Oh, I was saying that he was like my twin." Ned swore Peter was going to say _dad_. He couldn't wait for the day when Peter actually did so.

Ever since that moment, Ned sees the father-son relationship every time Peter talks about him.


	2. Happy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ("Mr. Stark is always there for me. So, I'm going to always be there for him.")

**2\. Happy ("Mr. Stark is always there for me. So, I'm going to always be there for him.")**

Happy sees it every time Peter sets foot in the car.

When Happy applied for the job, he was pretty sure it was bodyguard and not chauffeur. Sometimes, he even asks Pepper to check his application form again, to which she always says, "It's just Tony being Tony." At first, Happy could handle it. A few places here and there. He definitely got paid pretty well. No harm done.

But, then he was assigned to 'monitor' some teenage kid. A few hours later, surprise, this motor mouth of a kid turned out to have superhuman abilities. _Yay_. Of course, Happy never brought it up to Tony, because as far as he knew, he was watching Peter until the whole Germany thing was over, and than quick airplane ride home - kids gone, everyone's happy. But than the monitoring was permanent. At his point, Happy couldn't help but think, 'Who does he think I am? A babysitter?' So it lead Happy to check in on Peter only when he was out of the boss' parameters. Of course, it was usually just decathlon competitions. Happy _did not_ have the time to listen to _every_ voicemail and read _every_ text message. If asked, Happy thought he was doing the job sufficiently. He was wrong.

Dead wrong.

Next thing you knew, the kid and what turned out to be his homecoming date's dad, were tumbling out of the sky, along with the cargo plane he was in charge of watching. Luckily things turned out well. And then they didn't. Happy couldn't believe his ears when he heard Tony offer the kid a spot on _the_ _Avengers_. Happy was relieved when the kid said, "No, thanks," and a little surprised. If there was on thing Happy did pay attention too, was Peter's need to prove himself. Didn't matter though. That just meant that Happy wouldn't have to listen to the kid everyday while dropping him off at school in the morning or some junk like that.

 _Surprise_ , _surprise_ , when in the end, it turned out he would pick Peter up from school everyday and drop him off at home, - Tony's plan to make sure the kid didn't skip school to do any of his 'extracurricular' activities - and be the one to pick up and drop off the kid on weekends when needed. Yup. Whenever the kid was involved, Happy's emotional rollercoaster was having some extreme rises and falls.

Little did he know that Tony and Peter both would have a different story. It never crossed his mind that they would become something more than just mentor and intern. Peter became Tony's ground. Who else could make the guy not drink for days in a row? Who else could keep Tony in check just with an innocent look? Of course, this was all memos passed down by Pepper. Happy could only ever vouch for Peter. Tony become Peter's sky. Who else could make Peter listen to anyone? Who else could make Peter smile like that? Happy knew long before that Tony and Peter were more than what hey thought they were. And the kid makes it more obvious with every conversation they have. One stands out clearer than the others, though.

Happy closes the door as the kid gets in. He simply walks around and gets behind the wheel. He's fixing the the mirror, when he - oddly enough - naturally tells Peter, "Put on your seatbelt kid." "Got it!." Peter doesn't hesitate and buckles himself in. Seconds later, Happy is driving down the busy streets; their destination being the Tower. Happy normally likes quiet car rides, and apparently Peter's learned that. They routinely drive, relatively quiet with small talk here and there.

Today, they had gone most of the drive with just the radio in the background. So, surprisingly, it's Happy who starts the conversation this time. "So Peter, any idea what your plans are today?" Peter is leaning forward on his palms, staring out the window. Happy glances over, but turns his gaze back in front of him when Peter turns to him. "I'm not really sure. But, last week he said that we were going to look at a couple of his old blueprints!" Happy nods along as Peter goes on about it and other various things, not really understanding the engineering jargon. 'Another reason why they work together so well,' is what he thinks.

At the end of the speech, they fall into a short period of silence, before something comprehends in his brain. Happy furrows his eyebrows. "Wait. What do you mean you want to make something to help Tony?" Peter is looking at his hands, which are playing with the bottom of his jacket sleeves. Because of this, and slight red blush on his cheeks, Happy knows that Peter was caught slightly off guard. The kid takes a deep breath, before sitting up straight. "Mr. Stark is always there for me. So, I'm going to always be there for him." Happy raises his eyebrows now, but Peter doesn't care to notice.

He starts to gesture wildly. "I want - need to repay him. Mr. Stark told me that he was the only one who trusted me when everyone else went against me being Spiderman." Happy feels a little guilty, as he starts to park in the private parking spot in the garage. "He _made_ _me_ a suit. He lets me come to the Tower, and actually _work on his_ projects. And anyways, its what they do, right?" Happy pauses from turning the engine off. "Who's they?" Peter is already out of the car. He turns back and says with the smile that stole everyone's hearts. "It's what friends do. They help each other." Happy sits in the car for another ten minutes after Peter had already shut the door and gone ahead up.

Happy rolled Peters answer around in his head. He continued to come to the same conclusion. Peter was more oblivious than Tony - and that says a lot. Happy is certain that what Peter had truly meant was, "It's what family does." Happy can't ignore the smile on his face when he drops Peter off with Tony anymore. He can't stop thinking of the fact that Tony and Peter, both ingenious inventors on their own, had together created a father son bond in the span of a couple months.

It's always there. Happy can see their bond when Peter steps in the car.


	3. May

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ("I will do everything I can. I always will.")

**3\. May ("I will do everything I can. I always will** **.")**

May sees it every time Tony calls her.

It was the strangest thing, knowing Stark. Now, years back, she knew exactly who this Tony Stark was. Who didn't? But neither she nor Ben particularly cared. They continued on with their own lives, happily married.

Then they were suddenly in the care of a nephew that she had only met a couple times before. May thought it would be hard to bond with the kid, after all, his parents had just died, and there was a reason why she and Ben didn't have kids - she simply was not a woman who could handle one. But Peter was different. They had clicked in a matter of days, and when she voiced the thought to Ben one late night, all he did was laugh. "Yeah. That's Peter. You can't not love the kid." She had nodded along with a smile. Ben was absolutely right.

But Peter - _oh gods_. For an eight year old who was already making mini blueprints for his Lego set, Tony Stark - a man who was the head of the engineering world - he was Peter's everything. His hero. And then came May's luck that the man turned out to be an actual hero. Iron Man no less! May could remember the day when all of three of them had seen the man announce it to the world, right on their tv. Peter was ecstatic. Everything ranging from posters to book bags to even a plastic mask and gauntlet, were bought for him.

She and Ben would sit through a daily lecture on the newest Stark invention that Peter so helpfully provided. It only made sense that they would visit the Stark Expo to see his creations. And then flash forward some hours that night, it ending with Iron Man rescuing Peter. May and Ben were having heart attacks that night, prepared to die, but Peter was more lively than ever. "I'm going to be Iron Man one day. I'm going to be a hero," is what he had told her. She had laughed it off and nodded. Now she was proud, because that was exactly what her nephew was. A hero. But going back to that night, May had always thought that that would be the closest her little family would ever get to meeting Peter's idol.

Ha.

Ha.

_Ha._

Now she was getting weekly calls from the guy himself, telling her about Peter's lab achievements and successes during training. Of course there was always - _always_ \- the unplanned call. Those always being at odd hours in the morning. It was always a call saying that Peter had injured himself fighting some guy with some crazy scheme. Luckily, after the entire Homecoming incident - falling out o the sky with 250 tons of metal beside him - the injuries ranged from the best, being a sprained ankle, to the worst, a gunshot or stab wound. With Ben, she never really had to worry about the danger Peter would get in. And then it was just the two of them, and always panicked. And even now, some would say that it was still just the two of them, but she knew better.

She could hear it in Tony's voice every time he called. The blind panic of a man who clearly hadn't dealt with kids before. The voice of a new parent. At first it bothered May, because she didn't want Peter to get any closer to Tony than he already had. It was no secret between anyone that trouble followed them like the plague. But she couldn't dare keep them away. Tony was what completed Peter. Every call worried her, but she never felt the need - yet - to go see Peter after an injury. She believed Peter was in fully capable hands, especially when those hands were Tony's. Every phone call with the man reminded her that. Some of those phone calls though, really showed how faithful Tony was.

Peter had been shot, and after managing to make it to the tower, immediately falling unconscious, he was treated by the good work of Bruce Banner. That night, Tony had actually been out of state, not knowing about the incident until after she had been called. She trusted Tony fully, and she - in fact - trusted Bruce a lot more. But Peter had told her that Bruce had only returned a month ago. He didn't know Peter like Tony him. She decided to go to the Tower, with Happy helpfully driving her there.

She was sitting by Peter's side, he had woken up for a few minutes before going back to sleep. Bruce had just patched the kid two hours or so before, leaving May to be there for one. No more than twenty minutes had gone by after Peter went back to sleep, before Tony came rushing into the room. She only watched as the man rapid-fire questioned the doctor. Bruce on his part stayed calm and relayed the information. As a result, Tony's demeanor calmed as well. She was already smiling at the protectiveness Tony projected, but she smiled harder when she heard Bruce mumble, "Gosh. You're more worried than the kid's actual aunt. Slow down papa bear." 'At least I'm not the only one who sees their relationship.' She thought.

Tony was dragged out of the room soon enough by Pepper; her saying, "You can't just run out of a board meeting with the head of damage control." Tony of course had a quip, but she ignored the fighting couple.

Another hour later, Tony had not returned yet, Peter was awake. Bruce gave Peter the go to go home, - dang, that super healing factor was a miracle - but not before telling May to make sure he stayed in bed for the next 24 hours. Happy drove them back, Peter falling asleep in the car. She thanked Happy, as she woke Peter up and lead him upstairs.

Fast forward a couple hours, and May was getting a phone call from none other than Tony. "Hello." She greeted him. "Yeah, hi." He sounded out of breath, and she could still detect the poorly thrown on mask hiding his worry. "So Peter? He's cool right? Like, not dying out or anything?" May wanted to laugh, for who else could render such a strong man speechless, but her own Peter.

"He's fine. No thanks to you Stark." She joked, but it only lead to Tony profusely apologizing. It saddened her to think of all the responsibility he took to make sure Peter would be able to see the next day. "-geez. I should have been there May. You know what Bruce told me? The kid was shot and he swung _14_ blocks to the tower. While bleeding profusely! What the heck?! If I were there, I could have had Friday check his vitals! I could have jumped into the suit and brought him back to the tower sooner. I-" May cut into Tony's rambling. "Stop okay. It was not in any way your fault. What you could have done is exactly what you would have done." Tony tried to interject, but she raised her voice, silencing him. "Don't deny it. I know you would jump at the chance to protect him."

She felt her heart speed up for a moment after hearing Tony's next words. After all the man was not known for shouting out his feelings to the world. "I will do everything I can. I always will." She smiled, a few tears in her eyes as she stared out her window. "I know you will." Maybe Tony didn't hear her, or maybe he just ignored her, but he continued. "Peter is the only thing keeping this world go round. Like heck if I'm going to let him disappear. Peter is more than just my responsibility and a superhero. He's...a..kid."

Tony couldn't lie to her. She could hear his real words itching his throat. What he really meant was, "He's _my_ kid." However, she couldn't just tell I'm that. it appeared that neither her nephew nor Tony realized the significance they held for each there, and heck if she was going to tell them. They were going to find out themselves. She heard him cough awkwardly, and he changed topic back to Peter. She assured him everything was fine and promised to tell Peter to call the man in the morning. The call was soon ended after that, leaving her to sit up in her bed, still looking out the window. After another ten minutes, she settled back under the covers.

She knew exactly what Tony meant to Peter. She had known for years, ever since that day on tv. Now though, she knew exactly what Peter meant to Tony. She knew - and she had suspicions that Bruce knew as well, she should probably talk to the guy about it - what they were. They were a duo; an untenable knot. Even if you tried to disentangle their strings, you only made the knot that much stronger.

If she ever worried about Peter while he's out being Spiderman, she knows that with a quick phone call, Tony was watching him too. Tony was being the parent that he never planned to become.


	4. Pepper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ("Also, I want to be there when my genious intern wins.")

**4\. Pepper ("Also, I want to be there when my genious intern wins.")**

Pepper sees it every time Tony is around Peter.

At first, it was Tony locking himself away to avoid everyone else. And then, it was him locking himself up, because of everyone else. And now, it's him oddly enough, not locking himself away, because of a certain someone. Mister Peter Parker.

Pepper thinks about it, and she realizes that she never knew Peter, like knew. She remembered the whole Spiderman fiasco at the airport in Germany and talking to Tony about the hero. Tony had, surprisingly, said that Spiderman's identity was his business and that he, himself, had no right to reveal it.

Screw that. Pepper wanted to meet the hero the ran Tony Stark speechless.

Afterwards, flash forward a few months, to when Tony tells her to prepare a press conference to, "Introduce the world to its newest Avenger." She does, and time skips to when she was calming the photographers and reporters down. She opens the back door, and sees Happy and Tony, who is uncharacteristically shocked, but no Spiderman. In the end, it becomes an announcement to their engagement. But she couldn't help but wonder who this hero was. And then enter Peter Parker directly.

By then, two weeks had gone by. It was a weekend, and she knew exactly where Tony normally was: his private lab. As she gets off the elevator, she just barely moves to the side to avoid being run into by a teen fumbling with a bookbag, mumbling about, "Shoot, I'm going to be late." She doesn't get the chance to ask, "Who?" before the elevator has already gone down. Pepper marches straight into Tony's lab, the question on the tip of her tongue.

Tony hates anyone coming into his private lab. She knows that the few times Bruce had done so, Tony had even yelled at him. She also knows that while Tony is actually being really sweet by not being as vocal about with her, her coming into the lab without invitation is just one of his pet-peeves. Though the times she does get a special invite, she simply watches as Tony runs mental blueprints. So, she was surprised when Tony continues doing...whatever it is, and says, "You're back already. Don't tell me you forgot something. Do you know how much trouble you're going to get in? I do-" With everything happening recently, and all the stress that's on him, (freaking Accords), she feels surprised by the happy, teasing tone that he uses. He stops talking when he turns around and sees that it's only her there. "Oh. Hey! What are yo-" "Who's the kid that ran by?"

He stares her straight in the eyes, with the same smile, and that's how she knows that this Tony just went from unguarded and playful to partially lying and stubborn. "He's my intern." That statement drops her back a few notches. ' _When_ did he get an _intern_? When was he kind of _person_ to have an inern?' Were her thoughts. He refused to tell her anything more, other than a name and that fact that he went to Midtown School of Science and Technoolgy in Queens. Pepper sees Peter rarely, which is strange considering all the time that he spent there. She catches glimpses of him showing his pass - the pass reserved for only the most important people, because it gives more access to places that are kept from the public eye, like Tony's private floor for example. She sees him running out of the elevator outside. Sometimes she's in a boardroom and happens to look out at the right time to see the car she recognizes as the one Happy picks Peter up with.

So in reality, all she knew was this kid must be doing something, because Tony was rarely ever upset after being with him. She left the two of them in the back of her mind because it turned out that leaving Tony to hang around with the kid was a good thing. He had lost a couple bad habits and was a bit more mature. Just a bit. From time to time, she also heard news of Spiderman. Sometimes she would go to Tony, because if anyone knew anything about the hero, Stark did. But her questions were brushed off, and she decided that unless another world crisis was happening, she might as well take a break from the worring.

And then things changed. All it took was one night to discover Spiderman's identity, and to heck when that happened. And to think that it took her three months to figure it out.

She and Tony were actually sitting down for dinner, and the night had gone on quite wonderfully. They were on his floor of the Tower, casually eating Tony's attempt at a lasanga. A little watery, but decent. He had promised her that the night was theirs, and it was. Until FRIDAY spoke over the speakers saying, "Incoming Call from KAREN." She glanced at Tony, who had stopped mid bite, and failed to hide a large amount of worry. She wasn't given the chance to say, "Who's KAREN?" before Tony said, "Accept the call FRIDAY." Two seconds went by, before a differnt feminie voice, more machine like, like FIRDAY, said, "Peter has lost conciousness. Heart rate has dropped to unstable rates. Tempreture is also dropping, last recorded to be 96.63 degrees. Mild head concusion, but combining with the elements of the curent weather, hyporthermia is not far from diagnosis."

Multiple things happened then. But to summerize it, she watched as Tony shouted to her a quick apology before calling his suit. She watches Tony, as Iron man, fly through the balcony doors, and out. It doesn't cross her mind until five minutes go by with her sitting in the aftermath of chatoic silence. "FRIDAY?" "Yes, Mrs. Potts." She speaks slowly, not for the AI, but for herself. "When you say Peter, do you mean Peter Parker?" Friday's confirmation makes her stomach drop. She may not know the kid, but she knew that he was a good child. "FRIDAY, alert me when Tony returns." FRIDAY agrees, and she sits around for another five minutes. But that doesn't work, because nerves are bouncing aroud in her stomach, and she doesn't like this feeling of _not knowing_. So, she decides to pace, looking outside the balcony doors in intervals of thirty seconds, expecting to see Tony returning to tell her everything is alright.

This goes on for five minutes, totaling 15 from the moment Tony left, when FRIDAY says, "Tony and Peter have returned." She wasn't expecting Peter, but that wasn't what was important. "Where are they?" She doesn't know why the question needed to be asked, because subconciously she knew the answer and was headed towards the medbay a couple floors below. As she races through the halls an arrives at the room Friday told her they were in, she expects to see Tony standing over Peter, who is laying on a bed. She doesn't expect to open the door and see Tony standing over Spiderman with his mask off, revealing Peter with pale skin, on the bed.

At the time, she barley registers the wearniss and painful look on Tony's face as he watches Peter, or the fact the Peter was buried under a number of electeric blankets. All she sees is a fifteen year old kid fighting crime where things could go insanely wrong, like how it had gone that night. They ended up fighting, which was bad in one way, but it hurt them both as it was one of the worst ones they had ever had.

They don't speak for almost a week, and she busies herself with work that is supposed to get done. While she is distracting herself, she purposely tries to ignore the wrong feeling the argueemnt gives her, becaue a) she had seen the news and videos on youtube, and she knew that Spiderman was capable of fighting crime. b) Tony was right to give him the suit. What she said during the fight about, "Encouraging this recklesss behaviour," was entirly wrong as Spiderman had been appearing before the suit, and if anything the suit had gotten him out of plenty of dangerous accidents. And c) She had left the room after the argueemnt, and never made an attempt to check in on Peter. Hero or not, he had almost died of hypothermia that night.

So, it surprises her when a knock at her door pulls her out of her work-aholic tendency. She calls out for the person to enter, and she feels the air disappear from her lungs. There, shuffling at the entrance of the doorway, is Peter holding a bouquet of flowers. "Ahh...can I enter?" She nods silently and he steps in fully, using his foot to close the door behind him. He sits down in the chair that's on the other side of her desk. They both don't speak, and she's prepared to apologize, when Peter beats her to it. "He-Hey Ms. Potts. Err, here." She accepts the flowers given to her. "Um. I wanted to apologize for what happened. I just wanted to say that you don't need to be mad at Tony. It's my fault." That is what shakes her up the most. She yelled at Tony while Peter was in a life threatening situation, with her being the one that caused the fight between her and Tony, and Peter is apologising for the both of them. She clears her throat, and sets the flowers inside a vase thats siting on the corner of her desk. "Let me get this right. You're apologizing to me." He nods.

"No, Peter. I should be apologizing to you. After last we-" Sh hesitates, becasue she remebers the few times when she had pestered Tony about Spiderman's idenity, and all she learned was that the hero was very secretive about it. But Peter simply blushes ad understands what she is refering too. "No, it's fine that you know. Hehe." He laughs nervously and she quickly says, "Sorry." But apparently, the kid is having none of that. "It's okay that you know, and I understand why you yelled at Tony. Oh- I was sort of awake? I could hear what you guys were talking about." He stops himself to explain, because he must have interpreted the face she gave. "Anyways, I understand everything that you said. But please don't take it out on Tony. He's being really mopey in the lab, and I heard the you were doing the same from Happy. But I know what you think, and I don't mean to be rude in anyway, but even if Tony never gave me the suit, I would still be out there."

"Of course you would. You're a hero." The words come out before she can comprehend them herself, but that doesn't matter. Peter's smile is the most radiant thing she had seen in a while, and she wants him to know that. "Peter. Wait, first call me Pepper." She stops, because she thinks that she heard Peter mumble, "That's what Mr. Stark always says." She smiles at the thought. "What I did was uncalled for, escpecially when you almost died from hypothermia. Honestly, I have no idea when Tony became more mature, but him giving you the suit and helping to guide you was a better and smarter decision than how I reacted. I should be the one apologizing, for there are times to be reprimanding, and you almost dying of hypothermia is not the right time. I want you to know that I support you, but I can't help but wonder if what you and Tony are doing is the right thing. But it shouldn't matter in the end, because you're helping people." Peter's face is bright pink, and his smile had only grown wider, and Pepper stops to wonder where Tony managed to find such a kid.

Neither of them speak for a moment, and the ticking of the clock reminds her what they were both here for in that moment. She clears her throat. "Well, Peter, I believe you have some lab work you would probably like to do with Tony." Peter sees the chance that she was giving him and he hastily nods. He gets up, is about to walk to the door, before turning back. "I know I shouldn't be asking anything of you, but could you keep my identity secret? I- I don't want anyone to know yet." She smiles softly. "Of course. It's the last thing I could do for you." Peter returns her smile and he is out the door before she calls out to him again. "Yes, Mrs. Po-Pepper?" "Peter, you can ask me for anything. I will always do what I can to help you. Also, tell Tony that I apologize and forgive him." Peter laughs and leaves, and Pepper realises that that was proabably the moment she accepted him.

From that moment on, she and Peter never have a direct conversation again. But somehow she knows little intimate things about him. She learns them from Tony. When she and Tony find time to have a meal with each other, or a night where they share a movie, she casually brings up topics to start conversations with. She finds herself choosing Peter more and mroe often. But Tony doesn't mind. She couldn't help but smile at the badly hidden excitement Tony holds for the boy." She sits and listens to him ramble on about the newest project that Peter had created or even little school or home things that Peter had mentioned to him.

Around three weeks later, she gets that rare invite into his personal lab, but this time it's not just her. She sits in a chair on one side of the room, with her laptop open on her lap. Normally, from time to time she looks up from what she is typing to see what Tony is up to. Today, she finds herself stopping more often and looking up more often to watch as Tony and Peter mirthfully play around. They were working on Peters suit, adding another feature.

She smiles as she listens to Tony pretend to threaten Peter by putting some feature called the 'Training Wheels Protocol' back on the suit. The next two hours continue on like that, with her starting a list on her laptop of all the reasons where Tony had practically admitted Peter was his son figure. She starts to connect the dots, and she feels nothing but pride for Tony. Of course at the end of the two hours, Peter has to return home to his aunt, and Happy was already waiting in the garage as helpfully announced by FRIDAY.

Peter is throwing the last few things into his bookbag, as Tony says, "You're coming again on Tuesday right, to pick up the suit? If so, I've got nothing to do, so we can test the suit here." A part of Pepper wants to interrupt saying that, "No Tony. You have a board meeting on Tuesday." But she can't help herself to do it. Tony never comes either way. Peter looks up at Tony as he swings his bookbag onto his back. He smiles apologetically. "Sorry, I can't. Tuesday is the robotics competition, Mr. Stark. I need to get there early too, because May won't be able to come so I'll have to set up on my own." Pepper thinks that the conversation would end at that, but she's wrong. "No matter. I don't have anything then either. When's the competition? I'll be there to help you set up, and I'll bring the suit too. Anyways, didn't you say that some of the kids - specifically a Flash it was - who didn't believe you had and interenship with me? Let's take this chance to prove them wrong. Also, I want to be there when my genious intern wins. Tony waves his hands, like it's no big deal, but the way he smiles and the way Peter looks at him excitedly, spells it out for her.

Peter and Tony quickly forget that she was there, as Peter tells him the time and Tony tells FRIDAY to clear his scheduele. After that's done, FRIDAY announces again that Happy had said to tell them that if Peter wasn't downstairs in five minutes, he was handing in his resignation letter. "Bye Mr. Stark. See you Tuesday! Peter runs out the door, probably not hearing Tony yell after, "It's Tony, kid! Tony! You literally call Pepper by her name, why not me!?" Pepper watches as Tony continues to stare at the door fondly, with that genuine smile that was no longer rare to see. She slips of the chair, her heels clicking on the floor, making Tony turn to look at her. " _Your_ genious _intern_ , huh."

Tony shruggs, and arrogantly says, "Of course. Peter is the smartest kid I have ever met. I know he's going to win. He's my intern after all." Pepper decides to test the waters by saying, "And because that's not all he is." Tony actually becomes confused, almost making Pepper laugh at how oblivious the man was. "Spiderman? I mean, yeah those web shooter he designed on his own are amazing, but-" "No, no that." Pepper interrupts. When she doesn't go on, she could see Tony grow a bit frustrated. "Then what do you mean? What else is he?" Pepper laughs out loud now, and she ignores him by walking right out the door, leaving Tony behind.

She can see the universal signs for that special father/son interaction, and she's glad that Tony has found Peter. Yeah, Pepper can see the fondness Tony and Peter have everytime they are together.

* * *


	5. Bruce

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ("Hey, hand me the -" "Here!" "Oh. Thanks, Spider-Child.")

**5\. Bruce ("Hey, hand me the -" "Here!" "Oh. Thanks, Spider-Child.")**

Bruce sees it every time Tony and Peter are in the lab together.

He had only returned two weeks ago, and with his long absence, it was no wonder that Tony had actually tackled him to the wall. They had spent the rest of the day, reminiscing and sharing what changed over his absence. Of course, things were purposely left out by him, and he suspected that his friend had done the same.

He later learned that one of these well-kept secrets came in the form of one high school science nerd.

At the time, he couldn't say exactly when he learned about Peter's existence and the kid's overwhelming effect on Tony. He learned later that Tony had actually drunk less and more alcohol in his life than ever before, and it was it was all thanks to that kid. How? He was yet to learn the reason.

But now he could probably plot a decent timeline on the information he had gathered. It was probably only two or so weeks after when Pepper had listened to Tony clear his schedule to help Peter set up for a school function of some sort. (It was robotics.) In any way, the only reason he knew Peter was ever around was both Pepper and Happy telling him about the kid that had affected his friend so greatly. Of course, this only prompted curiosity on his part, so it made sense for him to hint to Tony, silently begging for answers. While Tony didn't necessarily avoid speaking of Peter, he never made it the topic of conversation. With that said, he knew point blank zero of anything about the kid, and Happy and Pepper made no move to help him.

"Oh, he's a real gem alright. Won't stop talking, though." Happy told him sarcastically, but with an undertone of mirth.

"You should speak with him directly. I know that you'll like him. A lot." Pepper smiled knowingly, which only fueled his need to know.

The only thing they did tell him was the kid's schedule. So he waited. The first week of his return had gone by. In that time, he wondered why he hadn't seen the kid, especially with the common routine with Peter coming every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Tuesday from 3 a.m. to 6 p.m.

It was just a lucky coincidence that the week he had returned, Peter was too busy to come to the tower, and the second week, he was on a four-day field trip. Also, unfortunately for him, he was distracted during the second week with science. No surprise there. He along with Tony were locked up in the lab during that second week looking over forgotten blueprints and designs. Well more so on Tony's part. Bruce simply watched Tony, noticing the subtle differences in his personality. 'I guess he did go through a change.'

So with Peter pushed to the back of his mind, he was entirely confused to walk into Tony's private but-not-private-enough-where-you-need-an-invitation-lab, and see Peter spinning around in a rolly chair. His first response was to outwardly say, "Who are you?" But that was clearly the wrong thing because all Peter did was swirl around in the chair to face him and yell, with his voice climbing a few octaves, "BRUCE BANNER!" And then promptly falling out of the chair.

Of course, Bruce rushed over to Peter, who was nursing his head. But apparently, the pain was nothing compared to himself as Peter stared at him in awe. "Oh my gosh, you're Bruce Banner. I'm Peter Parker. You're in my science classroom! Well, at least a picture of you is!" Bruce nodded along, "Uh-huh." Pulling Peter up by his shoulders and pushing him back into the chair. The kid was still rambling when he interjected, "Right, is your head okay?" He didn't wait for an answer and felt the kid's scalp.

He was checking the back head, after managing to stand behind Peter, still sitting in the chair. It was then that, "I'm Peter Parker," flashed through his mind. Bruce grabbed the chair's handles from behind and spun the chair to face him. That only shook Peter more, which is understandable as he was sitting in front one of favorite heroes. "Wait, are you Peter?" Who he now recognized as Peter, nodded numbly. "I've heard of you." Bruce had mumbled it to himself, but it seemed that Peter heard it and was blushing even more furiously now. "Yo-you have?" Bruce nodded. "Yeah. You're Tony's...intern."

Peter nodded along, sitting up a bit straighter. "Uh, yeah, I am." Bruce took a step back, and they stared at each other for a few silent moments. Peter only looked more bashful as time went on, and Bruce could see little nervous tics Peter was subconsciously succumbing too. He cleared his throat. "So uh, what are you doing here?" Peter stood up from the chair with his hands out in front of him. "Oh, I was waiting for Mr. Stark, 'cause FRIDAY said it would be fine that I did. Mr. Stark told FRIDAY to tell me that Pepper had dragged him off to one of the meetings he was avoiding. He should probably stop doing that." Peter paused for a moment after saying that last part, mainly to himself. Though Bruce heard it and he smirked, glad that someone had more brains than his supposed more adult friend. Peter picked back up after a minute. "Though, if you wanted the lab, you can. I could go wait on Tony's floor. It's really fine."

Peter didn't give him a chance to argue before he was rushing around the table nearby to grab his backpack that had clearly been sloppily thrown there. Peter was already almost halfway out the door before Bruce, somehow, appeared behind Peter, grabbing his shoulders once again. "Hey, hey. It's alright. I'd like some company anyways, and I have a feeling that if Tony allows you to be here, then you could probably help me with some of my own science."

"Uhh." Bruce laughed at how Peter's eyes grew wide again with awe and his face blushing darkly again. "Okay."

They sat together for another hour. In that time, Bruce learned how really smart and innovative Peter was. They hit it off quite quickly. Peter did most of the talking, at first just nervous rambling, until Bruce asked him to see a few projects that Peter had been working on currently. Peter broke off into long tangents, jumping from one theory to another. Bruce only interjected here and there to prove to Peter how truly interested he was in the conversation.

Anyway, after that hour, Tony arrived with a groan after slamming open the doors. 'See that you still make dramatic entrances.' Bruce smirked at the thought. "Yes, I'm free!" He yelled towards the ceiling. Tony only realized they were there when Peter shouted out, "Hiya, Mr. Stark!" Peter ran towards Tony, stopping a foot or so away, and Tony walked up grabbing him by the shoulders. Quickly turning Peter away, he said, "Where are you going, kid? The lab is this way. No wonder you keep getting lost. We should continue rewiring the bo-Oh, hey Green Bean!"

Bruce rolled his eyes at the petty nickname. Tony paid no attention to that though. "What brings you here today?" Bruce shook his head. "I was just here to talk to you about something, but I met Peter here instead. I decided to keep him company." Tony nodded, and they excused themselves from the room, Peter nodded in understanding an went off to get the wires Tony had been talking off before.

Bruce saw Peter a lot more often after that. Bruce would look out his lab, to see Peter walking the hallway after school and on Saturdays to get to Tony's lab. Sometimes Peter would pop in if Tony was busy, and they would chat for a while. Or Bruce would periodically go down to see Tony and Peter together.

The more he went down to the lab to visit Tony and Peter, the more he noticed the little things that had developed between them. He would see the way Peter grounded Tony, and how Tony allowed Peter to grow. And vice versa.

Peter kept Tony from going to crazy, but he was able to keep up with Tony like no one else ever had ever been able to.

Tony helped Peter grow confidence an fosted hisc reativity, but he also held him back from creating anything too 'Tony' like. So essentially, anything that Tony felt like Peter would regret later on.

Bruce would go down, sit in the rolly chair he had found Peter in, and would simply read a book while glancing up at them, just like Pepper. And like Pepper, he eventually found himself forgetting the book, choosing to watch the scenes in front of him play out like a movie reel that was finally dusted off and played. It was something that Bruce felt like he would never see happen between Tony and Peter. Luckily, he was proven wrong.

He tried not to smile as Peter excitedly began to talk about his ideas for new features to add to the suit after Tony had insisted. This is your suit kid. If anyone is going to know what you need, it should be you."

Anyhow, Bruce sat amused, as he knew that Tony already had a list of features that he himself was going to the suit without Peter knowing. Bruce knew that all of them consisted of a new protocol, The Boo-Boo Protocol. Everything Tony, and him, Pepper, and Happy, had thought of to check that Peter was always safe and in check while fighting his neighboorhood Spiderman crimes.

Bruce focused back in after Tony began to speak. Afterall he had rarely seen Tony sit back quietly and listen to someone else, not even Pepper could manage such obedience.

"Ok, let's start. I like the new web feature thing you were talking about." Tony held out his hands and Peter placed his suit on them. Tony nodded as he went ahead and pulled out a chip from the suit. "Okay, so first we need to fix the old problems. You said there was something wrong with the aim feature." Peter nodded and watched Tony continue to mess with the chip. "Yeah, its been like that since I accidentally hit my hand against a railing after I fell."

Oops. Even Bruce could tell that that was too much information.

Tony stopped working, but he chose not to look at Peter. "And this falling- hypothetically, did it happen while you were midair?" Peter shuffled his feet. "Er - well. If we're talking hypothetically, then maybe a yes. I think." Tony turned to Peter, who had ducked his head down and was staring at his shoes. Tony sighed, "We'll continue that talk later."

Tony turned back to the chip. "So, how's school going?" After that, Tony and Peter fell into casual talk about the topic. Bruce watched Tony and Peter. He could see the way Tony never looked at the kid directly, but the way he tilted his head with a few meaningful hmms, the billionaire was really listening. He could see the way Peter, still rambling about things not exactly thing that Tony was paying attention (but he was, thank you very much), would watch intently at the things Tony did, throwing in suggestions mid-sentence. Or seeing that Tony was going to need a different told before the man had asked for him to get one.

'Hey, hand me the-"

"Here!"

"Oh. Thanks, Spider-Child."

"No problem, Mr. Stark."

And the cycle continued again for another few hours, till the point where Peter was in serious trouble for being late that his aunt had called and said a selective number of choice words to Tony. The best part was though, Bruce thought, that the phone wasn't even on speaker, and he, himself on the other side of the room could hear her words perfectly.

Tony handed Peter his phone back. Peter, red-faced, accepted it greatly. "Uh, sorry Mr. Stark."

Tony shrugged. "Hey, it's her job. And it's mine to get you home on time. Well, at least its Happy's. I'll call him up. He'll meet you down in the back parking lot." Peter nodded.

Soon after, Peter left with a promise to return tomorrow afternoon for the suit.

Bruce stood up and stretched, catching Tony's attention who had gone back to working on the upgrades. "Woah. Almost forgot you were here." Bruce shrugged with a smile. Afterall, who couldn't smile after seeing the two act like the perfect pair of science bros. Bruce wanted to feel slightly offended, but he couldn't be. Tony narrowed his eyes. "Oh no."

Bruce was confused. "Oh no, what? What's wrong?" Tony glared at him for a little longer. "That smile on your face. May, Pepper, and Happy keep giving me that smile. And now you too! There's something crafty. What are you guys planning?" Bruce was pretty sure his mouth was wide open at Tony's obliviousness. "What do you mean? You and Peter-"

Tony raised an eyebrow. "Peter and I what?"

"You don't - I can't believe it." Bruce couldn't help but give an incredulous laugh.

Tony demanded an answer, but Bruce didn't have one.

He could see Tony's and Peter's caring love for each other form miles away. He wasn't going t be the one to reveal that. So, he decided that he would wait for Tony and Peter to realize it themselves that they had each found that one lost missing piece that each thought they'd never see again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now it's time for Peter and Tony to tell each other! I don't know when the last chapter will be done, escpecially since I still hace a couple exams going on. But, I will have it out before the end of June, for sure. 
> 
> Thanks for sticking around for so long!

**Author's Note:**

> Surprise! It's another story! *Upset mumbling from myself to myself for starting so many projects*
> 
> But no matter! I have already written the next four chapters, and they seem pretty good if I say so myself.
> 
> The next chapters, though, are a heck of a lot more longer, just saying.
> 
> Those chapters are the reason why I'm posting everything in 'chapters' in the first place. The plan was everything would be in one document, but a: that would be long, and with my normal way of formatting, very confusing. b. I didn't feel limited to write a short piece for everyone's event. I could write freely. Use enough words to express my thoughts, emotions, and messages clearly.
> 
> *Another set of awkward mumbling*
> 
> Anyways, tomorrow, I will probably upload the next four chapters, (I wanted to see the response the first part would get).
> 
> Apologies for the long note, and any grammar errors in the story. Simply point out the paragraph and line, and I will fix it! Anything to make my writing clearer for you guys to read!
> 
> Please enjoy the ride!


End file.
